Raising a Toast to Local Craft Beer

How are you toasting this Memorial Day Weekend? Craftbreweries, or small, independent breweries that brew beer traditionally with no affiliation to larger beer manufacturers, are on the rise on Long Island. Several new breweries are opening or in development: the new Cooked Ladder Brewing will soon open its doors in Riverhead, Greenport Harbor Brewing will move to new digs in Peconic and the Mustache Brewing Company recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to launch in Riverhead.

Offering beer enthusiasts new tastes to try, the summer is a perfect time to jump into the growing craft brewery community. Here are just a few of the breweries to check out this summer:

Long Ireland Beer Company
longirelandbrewing.com
817 Pulaski St.
Riverhead/631-403-4303

For a great summer beer, try this brewery’s Raspberry Wheat. Other interesting offerings include Breakfast Stout, which contains flaked oats and milk sugar that give it a cream and coffee-style taste.

The Blue Point Brewing Company
bluepointbrewing.com
161 River Ave.
Patchogue/631-475-6944

Founded in 1998, Mark Burford and Peter Cotter’s brewery runs year-round and offers tastings, tours and samples at their Patchogue location. Some of their beers include Blueberry Ale, Toasted Lager, Hoptical Illusion and Summer Ale.

This brewery has won numerous awards from the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. Among their popular beers is the Southampton Double White, a “double-strength” version of Belgian-style white ale.

Owned and operated by three young craft beer lovers, this new brewery has gotten rave reviews for their Driftwood Ale. Their Gallery Taproom is a great place to try their beer, which will soon be expanded to allow the beer to be brewed in premise.

To check out many breweries at once, you may want to attend the North Fork Craft Beer, BBQ and Wine Festival on August 10, which will showcase 50 craft breweries at Martha Clara Vineyard. More information can be found at northforkcraftbeer.com. Cheers!